Ag Stewardship

Learn more about soil health from the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Info maps, videos, and more are available on their website.

Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri) is one of the most widespread, troublesome, and economically damaging weeds in the Southeast, and it has now spread to the Midwest. Palmer amaranth arrived in Indiana and can spread in a variety of ways, including livestock feed, manure, machinery, wildlife, and seed mixes for wildlife habitat, cover crops, and other purposes. It is a pigweed and close relative of water hemp that emerges in May and grows through September. This weed is not on the Indiana noxious weed list, but it grows rapidly, is highly competitive, produces over 100,000 seeds per female plant, and is difficult to eradicate. The high seed production of Palmer amaranth increases the risk of it moving into additional crop fields and other lands. Because of the real threat it poses to agriculture, it is important to limit its spread to more areas in Indiana.

For additional assistance with identification and control of Palmer amaranth, please refer to the Purdue University resources below.

Cover Crop Transect

The HCSWCD partnered with NRCS to once again conduct a cover crop/tillage transect survey in November for Hamilton County. The purpose of this survey is to measure how many farms are utilizing cover crops and performing no-till practices. According to SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) cover crops can boost profits the first year they are planted. They can improve a farm’s bottom line even more over the years as their soil-improving effects accumulate. Other benefits include reducing pollution, erosion, and weed and insect pressure.

SARE states that these significant benefits (detailed below) vary by location and season, but at least two or three usually occur with any cover crop. Consult local farming groups and agencies with cover crop experience to figure more precise crop budgets.

On Farm Network is now INfield Advatage!

Hamilton County Farmers Participate In 2nd
Year Nitrogen Study (Nov. 2014)Once again several farmers across Hamilton County chose to voluntarily
participate in a nitrogen study, which ultimately could provide environmental
benefits and financial savings to the farmer as well as county residents. Soil
and Water District staff have been busy collecting corn stalk samples ahead of
harvest this Fall on 16 different sites across Hamilton County, involving 118
different sampling points, with 10 stalk samples taken at each point. This program is basically an “on-farm” study
to evaluate nitrogen use efficiency in corn, and is called the Indiana On-Farm
Network program.

Participating farmers use precision ag tools and technologies to conduct research on their own farms. Through the On-Farm Network®, farmers use this data from their own farms and others in their area to evaluate the effectiveness and economic pros and cons of different management practices, such as nutrient application rates, timing, and form. Farmers not only evaluate the effectiveness of different practices on their own farm, but benefit from aggregate data across multiple farms and years. The end result is farmer-driven adaptive management in real time – farmers gathering and making beneficial changes based on data from their own fields and those of others. The farmers are in the driver’s seat, which significantly increases buy in to the results and willingness to make long-term changes.

One of the technical aspects of the program is the testing of corn stalks at harvest to measure nitrogen levels not utilized in producing the grain. This would appear to indicate that the corn crop had more nitrogen than needed to produce that years crop, so a reduction in the amount applied might be a wise decision. Additionally, unused nitrogen does have the potential to move off the field in storm water runoff, and farmers do not want that to happen either. The bottom line is that applying nitrogen at rates close to what the crop uses not only saves money but helps improve and protect the environment as well. We continue to be encouraged by famers in Hamilton County for taking proactive steps that benefit us all on several levels.

If you are a farmer or know of a farmer interested in participating in a study like this, please call us at 317-773-2181 and we can discuss this with you further. There is no cost to the farmer, but there is a great deal of site specific valuable information provided back to him for use in his operation. Let us know if you are interested.

Contact Mark McCauley for more details on ag stewardship and the INfield Advantage!